ADP: US added 162,000 jobs in September

ADP survey showed that US businesses added fewer workers in September than August, a sign that slow growth may be holding back hiring. The economy added 162,000 jobs last month, down from 189,000 in August, according to ADP.

In this September 2012 file photo, Luis Gomez, seated center, hands his resume to a representative from White Rose Foods, right, during a job fair at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx borough of New York. An ADP survey relased Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2012, shows that US businesses hired fewer workers in September than August, a sign that slow growth may be holding back hiring.

A private survey shows that U.S. businesses added fewer workers in September than August, a sign that slow growth may be holding back hiring.

Payroll processor ADP said Wednesday that companies added 162,000 jobs last month. That's below August's total of 189,000, which was revised lower.

The September increase was better than economists had expected. And it marks the latest in a string of modest hiring gains reported by the survey in recent months. Still, the gain isn't enough to significantly push down the unemployment rate, which has been above 8 percent for three and a half years.